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CNN Live At Daybreak

Day Two of Jury Selection in Skakel Case

Aired April 03, 2002 - 06:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Day two of jury selection begins this morning in the murder trial of Kennedy cousin, Michael Skakel. Lawyers say it could take more than a month to seat the jury.

Our Deborah Feyerick looks at the case and yesterday's court proceedings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kennedy cousin, Michael Skakel, arrived at Connecticut Superior Court, ready to help pick a jury and get his trial under way.

MICHAEL SHERMAN, MICHAEL SKAKEL'S ATTORNEY: We just want people who can be fair to both sides, people who will wait until the end of the case before they make up their mind.

FEYERICK: It's a case that has gained national attention, a 15- year-old girl brutally murdered. The weapon: a golf club. The suspect: Michael Skakel, now 40, charged with Martha Moxley's death more than a quarter century after prosecutors say he committed the crime. Unusual at the very least, and now several notable witnesses expected to testify.

For the defense, Skakel's cousin, Courtney Kennedy, and her husband, Paul Hill, imprisoned for an IRA bombing then cleared on appeal. Testifying for the prosecution, a woman who was widely reported to have been romantically linked to the late Michael Kennedy, when she was a teenager babysitting his children.

The latest of many twists in this case extending to the jury pool. TV broadcaster, Louis Rukeyser, excused after telling the judge his own lawyers were preparing a large civil action against PBS for letting him go last week.

(on camera): When introduced by the judge, Michael Skakel stood, a tiny smile on his face, his eyes scanning the potential jurors. He then took his seat again at the defense table with his lawyers.

(voice-over): The judge asked the group, in light of all of the press coverage, if they could set aside preconceived notions and render a verdict based solely on the evidence. During questioning, defense lawyer, Mickey Sherman, repeatedly asked the men and women about the movie, "Twelve Angry Men," the story of a jury that stars off believing a man is guilty, only to find the defendant innocent in the end.

Prosecutor, Jonathan Benedict, asks potential jurors whether they could convict someone based on circumstantial evidence, letting this man go.

PETER ADAMO, DISMISSED JUROR: Basically, I told them after 27 years, I thought I would want a little bit more than circumstantial evidence.

FEYERICK: Prosecutors plan on calling 40 witnesses during the five-week trial; Skakel's lawyers about half that many. By the end of the day, two people had been chosen for the jury. Leaving the court, his lawyer said, "Michael Skakel had had a good day."

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Norwalk, Connecticut.

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